Her Secret
by riapinkstraps
Summary: Bella got married with Jacob, grew old and died. Edward promised Bella to keep on living until he finds someone to spend eternity with. Several decades later when they thought the past was forgotten, the unexpected happens. Only Alice knows-its her secret
1. The Arrival

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Twilight and its characters.

**Chapter I**

**The Arrival**

"_What's my secret? I sleep with the light on!"_ It was 4:15 pm. I had been in this train for almost two hours. _"What's your secret?"_ In precisely 15 minutes the train would be arriving at the Albany train station. _"Secret, the anti-perspirant deodorant for women."_ The Secret deodorant commercial has been playing nonstop for the past hour and its driving me crazy. The train ride from Port Authority in Manhattan to Albany was not fun at all…BORING.

_**Ring! Ring! Ring!**_

"Hello?"

"Marina? Its uncle Joseph."

"Hey uncle! The train is slowing down; I should be getting off in a few minutes. Wait, are you already here?"

"Yeah, I'm here at the parking lot. I'll meet you at the platform when you arrive."

"Okay, is Aunt Annette with you?"

"No, she's at home preparing a feast for you."

"Wow! Okay, I'll see you in a bit!"

The train finally slowed to a stop. I immediately grabbed my carry-on bag along with my purse and small pillow. _"What's my secret?" _stupid secret commercial, it was still playing when I got off the train. The moment I stepped onto the platform, I instantly felt the chill of the cold wind on my neck. "brrrr" I shivered. I have to get used to this cold weather. I then showed the conductor my ticket and he gave me my luggage. I made my way carefully to the exit as several people were excitedly jumping up and down to greet their families.

"Marina over here!" standing by the huge plastic plant ornament was my uncle Joseph. "Uncle Jo!" I waved back. I dropped my things and gave my uncle a big hug. "Uncle, you look amazing! Did you lose some weight?" he smiled and gave his used to be belly a little pat. "Well my dear, your aunt Annette has been keeping me healthy since I had a heart attack." I gasped. "No need to worry. Come on." He led the way to the car. "It's a long drive to Schenectady. We better get going." I followed my uncle to the car. I was almost skipping with delight. "Uncle, I'm so excited to see Aunt Annette and I can't wait to start school." He chuckled and took the keys out of his pocket. There was a loud "beep, beep" and I saw the headlight of a Mercedes SUV flashed. Whoa…is that my uncle's car? "So what do you think?" he asked while opening the trunk of the SUV. "Nice car uncle…" I was still mesmerized and was ogling at the car. "You should see your Aunt's car, it's an Escalade." I simply shook my head and went inside the car.

I knew that starting today my life is going to change. Moving to Schenectady was not my decision; it's just that I have nowhere to go. My parents died in a car accident when I was 9 and my grandma Lydia took care of me since. She died a couple of weeks ago and then Aunt Annette agreed to take me in. She's my mom's older sister. I'm so grateful that I still have a family who loves me and wants to take care of me. So they flew me out from California to New York City and here I am now, enjoying the ride in my uncle's Mercedes. My Aunt and Uncle have a lot of money. My uncle Joseph is a noted surgeon while my aunt is a successful business woman. They have 3 kids but all of them are married.

"Uncle, this place is beautiful…" We were now passing by farmlands and cornfields, orchards, trees and more trees…the scenery was just breathtaking. "Marina, I was thinking, since you're going to school on Monday, you're going to need a car. Why don't we go car shopping tomorrow? Sounds good?" I looked at my uncle in disbelief. I can't believe he's buying me a car. "You're kidding right?" the stern look on his face clearly says that he wasn't. "But uncle, I don't deserve it. I don't have a job yet. Maybe I could work it off and pay you back?" Uncle Jo chuckled again. "Marina you're my niece! You're family! I am not going to charge you rent and I am going to buy you a car. If you want to work, go ahead but I don't want you to pay me back. Save your money." I held back my tears. I was so thankful that God gave me such good relatives. If my uncle wasn't driving, I would've jumped out of my seat and gave him a gigantic hug. I guess I'll just have to wait when we get home.

"Here we are Marina, home sweet home." We made a turn into this narrow driveway, there were giant Oak trees on each side. The humongous branches formed like an arch above the driveway shielding the bright raise of the sun. "How long is your driveway uncle?" I asked. "About a mile and a half…" my mouth fell open. Then I saw out on the clearing was a fountain. There was a small statue of a cherub playing a harp at the center. Surrounding it was different kinds of wild flowers that I've never seen before…but where's the house? We drove further and finally there it is a big white three story house. The windows have blue shutters and the roof was painted gray with four chimneys. There's a huge balcony on the second floor it reminded me of the house in Nicholas Spark's The Notebook.

The next thing I know I was wrapped in hugs and kisses by my aunt Annette. "I'm so glad to see you Marina. You're all grown-up!" "Aunt Annette, Uncle Jo, thank you very much for your kind hospitality. Words cannot express my gratitude. I love you both." Teary eyed and lost for words I let myself melt into their embrace. "Oh dear, we love you too." Aunt Annette said her voice breaking slightly. She must be on the verged of tears. "Now, why don't you go and unpack. You can choose any room you want."

I sprinted upstairs excited to see my new room. I chose the one closest to the stairs-my cousin Larissa's old room. It's got a four poster bed and pink wallpapers. It's cute but it's just too pink. It's like somebody spilt pepto bismol on the entire room. Moving on to the next one was Melinda's room. It also has a four poster bed but this time the walls were covered with yellow and blue blossoms, not too painful for the eyes. There's a small rocking chair with dolls by the huge French windows and a tiny dresser at the corner. The room was perfect for me. I placed my clothes inside the small walk-in closet and my books on my bedside table. These books were priceless. My mom left these books for me before she died. Grandma Lydia gave them to me on my 16th birthday and I just fell in love with them...Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse. I wonder if people in my new school know about these books. I don't even know who wrote them. It only says S.M. on the cover. "Marina, are you done unpacking? Dinner is ready!" I stuck my head out of the door and yelled "I'll be right down Aunt Annette!" "Don't forget, we're going car shopping tomorrow so you better get some rest after dinner." Living with my aunt and uncle has got to be the best thing that ever happened to me. I could not ask for more.

**Next chapter coming up! **

**Be kind, Please review… it gets better I promise…**


	2. Ghost

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Twilight and its characters.

**Chapter II**

**Ghost**

I woke up especially early for school. Not only was I excited but my Aunt said that if I'm late, there won't be any parking. She was right. When I got to Schenectady High, the parking lot was almost full. It was filled with fancy cars. Everybody in this school must be rich. Good thing my Aunt and Uncle got me a Range Rover, I think they want me to fit in right away. I quickly found a parking spot next to a black Hummer. I gathered all my stuff and secured my car. Wow, never in my whole life did I imagine that I would end up in this place. I surveyed the whole parking lot, my Range Rover perfectly blended with the other cars. The question is would I ever fit in? Would I be accepted in this school? There's only one way to find out.

I went to the main office, introduced myself to the secretary and got my schedule. I decided to find my locker first since I have a lot of books to drop off. When I found my locker, I fumbled with the paper with my combination. The numbers were so small. I went through my locker combination over and over again still the lock won't budge. I held the paper close. "Is that a 6 or a 9?" "I think that's a 9" I looked up and stared at this girl with really long brown hair and brown eyes. She was getting something out of her locker too. I muttered thanks and went through my combination again and this time it worked. I placed some notebooks and some unnecessary stuff inside but decided to leave my Twilight books in my school bag. I made a mental note to myself to ask some people if they knew about Twilight.

"Excuse me, do you know where I could find Mr. Bateman's English class?" it was the same girl who helped me. I smiled at her. She must be new like me. "You know what, that's my first class too but I don't know where it is. I think I have a map here somewhere." I was rummaging through my folder looking for the map. "Are you new at this school too?" she asked. I gave her a nod I was still looking for the map. She then squealed with glee. "Thank god I'm not the only one! My name is Lizzy Gabbana." "Marina Charleston." We shook hands. "Marina, where are you from?" I found the map and we're now walking to the English Department Building. "I'm from Torrance, California but my grandma died so I moved here with my Aunt and Uncle." "I'm sorry…" "No, don't be. How about you? Are you from around here?" We made a left turn at the South Wing but stopped for a few minutes to let some AV guys pass. "I'm actually from Maryland. My dad is a doctor and he got transferred to Schenectady Hospital." "My Uncle is a doctor too!" I beamed. Hmmm maybe they know each other.

We stopped in front of a blue classroom. On the door is says "English 1001 Mr. Josh Bateman" I took a deep breath and exhaled. "I think this is it Lizzy." We stepped in and found seats at the back. Several girls were already seated and were chatting animatedly. I wondered if I could be friends with them. Nah, I don't think so. I turned to Lizzy and we started comparing our schedules. It turns out that we have all our classes together. We're both so relieved. We then talked about almost everything and we clicked right away. We were so absorbed in our discussion I didn't even noticed that there's a tall, blonde, guy sitting in front me. He was incredibly quiet, not even bothering to look around or read a book while waiting for the teacher. He just sat there, motionless, frozen like stone. Weird… it reminded me of one of the vampires in Twilight. He smelled good too. I was just about to ask Lizzy if she has read Twilight when the teacher finally appeared. "Good Morning, class. Welcome to English 1001. My name is Mr. Josh Bateman and I will be your English teacher for the rest of the year." Several people groaned. I did to. He interrupted me when I was about to ask Lizzy the most important question of all time.

We spent the whole English period writing down notes. My fingers were aching so hard I think I'm going to have carpal tunnel. Suddenly the tall guy in front of me shot his hand up in the air and said "Mr. Bateman? May I have a bathroom pass please?" He was very polite. The sound of his voice was soothing like music I couldn't describe. He has a southern brawl too kinda. Then Mr. Bateman answered "Certainly, Mr. Hale. Here you go." I stopped writing. "Hale" that sounds awfully familiar. My head snapped up. I checked to see what he looked like but he was already out of the door. "Hale" I muttered under my breath. Tall, blonde, southern brawl, Hale… it all fits. "Jasper Hale" I whispered. No fucking way! It can't be! They don't exist, it's just a story. Marina, get a hold of yourself. I mentally kick myself in the stomach. "Marina, are you okay?" Lizzy asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost…"

* * *

It was really a dragging day. Lizzy and I got out late from Math class. I don't know what the teacher was thinking when she gave us a pop quiz. She said it was merely to test our knowledge if we did a little bit of studying during the summer. Hello! Earth to Ms. Cane! That's why it's called summer! We are supposed to be on our vacation not home schooled. Lizzy and I only had a few minutes for lunch. We were so in a hurry to get out of class I already forgot about the "mysterious, Mr. Hale."

At the cafeteria, there were no more empty tables so we had no choice but to sit with some girls from our Art Class. "Lizzy, Marina, you should totally go with us to Manhattan this Saturday." This girl with hair extensions that looked like shit, I think her name is Violet, was trying to get me and Lizzy to go shopping with her group. "Yeah, totally! We should stop by at Staten Island too." Another girl added. I think her name is Tracy. "Umm we'll think about it." Lizzy answered uneasily. She turned to me to back her up. I just shrugged. At the corner of my eye, I saw a bunch of people huddled together. There were five of them. You could not really see their faces because they were talking so close to each other. Then I spotted mystery Hale. He was with them. This was my cue to ask Lizzy about twilight. I instantly grabbed her by the shoulder and she was startled. "I didn't mean to startle you Lizzy, have you ever heard of the book Twilight?" I opened my bag and showed her the book. She examined it and read the summary at the back cover. "No, Marina. I've never heard of it. Who's the author?" she flipped the pages of the book. "I don't know. It just says S.M. on the front." "Hmm, interesting. I'll look it up in the internet." Then before I could stop myself, I fully launched into conversation about vampires, werewolves and romance. "OMG Lizzy, if you find out who the author is you have to tell me!" I was actually shaking her and she was laughing so hard. "Clearly, Marina, you're obsessed!" she said in between laughs.

I suddenly felt a cold sensation on my back. "What was that?" I asked turning around. "Did any of you girls feel something?" Violet and Tracy exchanged weird looks. "We did not feel anything Marina." Violet added. I checked the corner table to see if the 5 people I saw earlier were still there, they're not. I looked around but there's no sign of them. Instead, I locked eyes with this boy. He was standing near the doors of the cafeteria. He had tousled, bronze colored hair, pale white skin, a bruise-like shadow under his eyes, tall, lean body, not very muscular and his eyes again were golden like butterscotch. He was glaring at me. I immediately turned to Lizzy. She saw the horror in my eyes. "Lizzy, do you see that guy by the door?" her eyes followed to where I was pointing. "What guy are you talking about Marina?" I pointed to the same direction. The guy was not there anymore. "He was right there Lizzy. He was glaring at me." I gave her a pleading look. "I believe you but he's not there anymore. He must be some dumb psycho trying to scare you and get your attention." Maybe she's right, but he looked so frightening. The pale complexion, those hate-filled glaring eyes…it pierced my heart and gave me goosebumps. Why can't Lizzy see him but I did. I felt something when none of the girls did. Maybe I did see a ghost this time.

**Please be kind and review..thank you..**


	3. Dinner Guests

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Twilight and its characters.

**Chapter III**

**Dinner Guests**

Lizzy and I had an especially hard time finding our Music class-our last class for the day. The moment we got there, class already started and Mr. Vartan won't let us in. We might as well go home so we headed out to the parking lot. "Hey Marina, do you want to get something to eat?" Lizzy asked. I realized that I was starving. We didn't eat that much at lunch today so I agreed.

I followed Lizzy to her house to drop off her car, a BMW Z4 convertible. She introduced me to her parents and to her puppy, Winkle. We were headed downhill when we saw this house, it looked like a castle.

"Lizzy, do you know who lives in that house?" I asked.

"I heard that some rich ass doctor and his 5 kids live there and they are all adopted." She replied.

I immediately stepped on the brakes which caused Lizzy to almost fall out of her seat. She gave me a horrified look. "Marina, what the hell?!" she exclaimed. "Lizzy, remember those vampires I told you about?" she then rolled her eyes and said "Coincidence Marina." I released the brakes and continued driving. "No! It's not a coincidence." I protested. "I swear to you, Lizzy, that guy sitting in front of me in English is a vampire and that boy in the cafeteria is one of them too!" Lizzy threw her hands in exasperation. "Marina, you're completely delirious! There's no such thing as vampires and it's all just a big coincidence. Now keep your eyes on the road. I want to get to McDonald's alive."

* * *

"Marina, honey, are you on the way home?"

"Yes, Aunt Annette. I went to McDonald's with my friend but I'm going home right now."

"Do you mind stopping at the bakery for some rolls? We're having guests for dinner tonight."

"Sure, no problem."

When I got home, I immediately smelled the pot roast. I placed the dinner rolls in the bread basket and helped my Aunt set the table. "Aunt Annette, who's coming?" I asked "One of the surgeons in hospital. His wife and kids are coming too." She answered. From the kitchen window, I saw that my Uncle just pulled in that means our guests would be arriving soon so I rushed upstairs to freshen up. I splashed cold water on my face then looked at the mirror and stared at my reflection. Why was I so pale? Both my eyebrows were uneven and my brown eyes looked dull. After wiping my face, I put on a new pair of jeans I got from SAKS, navy blue Hollister top and Uggs. I studied my reflection again at my full length mirror. Not satisfied with the way I looked, I tied my hair loosely with a blue ribbon and a touch of light make up. There, I look decent.

I plopped on my bed and scanned the pages of my Twilight book. "Unbelievable" I muttered. There's no way that vampires exist, but how do you explain mystery Hale? The boy at the cafeteria? The castle-like house on the hill? Coincidence? Bullshit. There's gotta be an explanation for all of this. Aha! I know what to do! Talk to the mysterious Hale! If he tells me that his name is Jasper then that's it! Vampires exist! What more proof do I need?

"Marina! Can you come down here please?" It was my Uncle. Dinner guests must be here.

"Coming, Uncle Jo!" I yelled.

I sprinted down the stairs and went directly to the living room. "Ah, here's my niece." My uncle gestured me to come forward that's when I saw them. The female, she gasped when she saw me, her eyes wide full of wonder. She has curly hair, pale complexion and shadows beneath her eyes…she was stunning. The male, however studied me carefully. Its not like he's checking me out or anything but its like he couldn't believe his eyes. He has blonde hair, body built like a male model and oh my, did he look gorgeous.

I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard my uncle talk. "Marina, I'd like you to meet Dr. Cullen and his wife, Esme." Now it's my turn to gasp. I stood there not moving. This can't be happening…the Cullens, here in Schenectady, they exist. It's not just a story, its reality. "Have we met before? You look extremely familiar." Carlisle asked me. I shook hands with him. His hands, they were cold, frozen like ice. I tried to talk but nothing came out of my mouth only air. "Carlisle, I think that was somebody else." Esme nudged him in the ribs. "It's nice to meet you honey." She shook my hand as well. I was still too stunned to talk.

"_**Ding Dong, Ding Dong"**_

The doorbell rang. Aunt Annette touched my shoulder. "Could you get the door sweetie?" I nodded. "Oh that must be the kids." Esme added. "Let's go to the Dinning room, you should see my antique chandelier Esme." I saw my aunt pull Esme to the Dinning room. Carlisle and my uncle followed them.

"_**Ding Dong, Ding Dong"**_

My hands were shaking as I turned the door knob. I was finally going to see the rest of the Cullens. My heart was beating so fast, it felt like it was going to jump out of my chest. I took a deep breath and opened the door. There's only two of them, where's the rest? "Hi there! I'm Alice." She flashed me her gleaming white smile. She was short, pixie like hair sticking out in every direction. She was wearing a short denim skirt, Bebe sweater and Uggs. "Hi…I'm Marina. Cccome in." I barely got the words right. I'm still dazzled. Then I found myself starring into a pair of golden eyes, like the ones I saw in the cafeteria. It was the same boy. He did not speak; he just continued to glare at me. "Edward!" Alice hissed at him. He broke our gaze and said a quiet hello as he came in. He was wearing a black polo shirt and jeans. Shit he does look like a god. Boy did he smell good too! I closed the door behind him and led both of them to the Dinning room.

Edward and Alice introduced themselves to my aunt and uncle. "Where are Rosalie, Jasper and Emmet?" Carlisle asked as Edward and Alice sat down. Edward said something so fast I didn't catch it. I sat right next to Esme and she gave me a warm smile. I smiled back, secretly pinching my arm to prove that I wasn't dreaming. "Ouch!" no, this isn't a dream. This is really happening.

Eating dinner with the Cullens was the most uncomfortable thing ever. It was really hard to concentrate to eat when there are a lot of questions bombarding your head and another is that there are blood-thirsty vampires surrounding you and one of them happens to read minds. Trying to act normal, I ate a little bit of the mashed potatoes. "Ugh" I squirmed. "_There's no taste. It badly needs salt, but I don't want to reach over and take the salt near Edward. It's too much hassle."_ Right on cue, Edward passed me the salt.

**(a/n: if the sentence is **_**italicized,**_** Marina is speaking through her thoughts and Edward can hear them.)**

"_OMG! He read my mind!"_ he nodded. He was staring at me curiously. "Mrs. Cavallaro, the pot roast is really good!" Alice exclaimed taking another slice of meat. My aunt beamed. "Thank you Alice. Don't get too full, there's still dessert-Chocolate Mousse Cheese Cake, that's Marina's favorite." Alice looked like she was bouncing on her seat. "Great! I can't wait!" she said grinning.

"_Hold on a minute…vampires don't eat food. They're supposed to be blood-thirsty creatures. Now why are they eating? Do they puke it out later or what?"_ Edward snorted and whispered something to Alice. She then turned to me and said "Marina, about the food thing, I'll explain to you later. It's a bit complicated." She then gave me a wink. I stared at her my mouth hanging open.

"_Holy crow! They know that I knew something about them being a vampire."_ Then Edward said something under his breath, it was so low I can barely hear it. "You've got a lot of explaining to do Marina." You know what I can't eat if somebody's invading my personal thoughts like this. _"Get out of my head!" _Edward shook his head no. He's having way too much fun deciphering my thoughts. So I started singing Kylie Minogue's song in my head _"Na na na, na na na na na, na na na, na na na na na, I just can't get you out of my head…"_ over and over again. That annoyed him. "Stop it!" Edward snapped at me. He's obviously angry now.

"Alice, are you ready for dessert? I'll go get it." I asked. I desperately need to get away from the dining room. "Sure, I think everybody's ready." She replied. I stood up to go to the kitchen, Edward followed by bringing everyone's dirty plates. I did not say one word to him. I simply took the cheesecake from the fridge and left him there but he grabbed the hood of my jacket and I staggered back almost losing my balance. "Hey watch it! I nearly dropped the cake." I yelled at him. "Hey girlie, you and I need to talk." I heard him growl. I was frightened but I didn't want him to know that I was afraid of him so I tried to hide my fear by having an attitude. "There's nothing to talk about eavesdropper. You already know what's in my head anyway so what's the point of talking?" I stuck my tongue out like a 5 year old and left him in the kitchen. "Well…we'll just see about that. You and I are not done."

**Wow that's a really long chapter. Hope you like it. More coming up!**

**Be kind…Please review…thank you.**


	4. Author's Note

**Author's Note:**

First of all, I would like to say thank you to everyone for reading my story and my heartfelt gratitude for the reviews. Thank you so much!

I have a treat for you guys. A little sneak peek.

To further understand my story, here is the breakdown of my chapters and their descriptions.

**Chapter I-The Arrival**

**Chapter II-Ghost**

**Chapter III-Dinner Guests**

**Chapter IV-Monster**

-Who do you think is the monster? Marina encounters him in this chapter.

**Chapter V-Confession**

-Bella will be making an appearance on this one. This chapter explains the summary of my story. This is a pretty long chapter too so watch out for that!

**Chapter VI-Myspace Survey**

-I need fillers. This is a short chapter and it's pretty funny. The title says it all.

**Chapter VII-Thanks for the Memories**

**Chapter VIII- Alice's Secret**

-Will she reveal her secret or not?

**Chapter IX-Ski Trip**

**Chapter X-Her lover, not mine**

**Chapter XI-Doubts**

-Edward's Point of View

**Chapter XII-Kidnapped!**

-Volturi makes an appearance

**Chapter XII-Conditions**

**Chapter XIII-Visions and Revelations**

-Very Emotional Chapter

**Chapter XIV-Hero/Heroine**

-A lot of action on this one. Very exciting.

**Chapter XV-Escape**

-Alice Point of View

I'm not yet sure if chapter 15 is the last. I'm still writing. I will update soon. If you have any ideas, please share! Thank you very much! Don't forget to hit the purple button!


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